I think that the relevant axis on which to evaluate countries' default attitude towards COVID and technological progress isn't authoritarianism vs. freedom, but

I think that the relevant axis on which to evaluate countries' default attitude towards COVID and technological progress isn't authoritarianism vs. freedom, but rather peacetime vs. wartime mindset. FDA approval processes (and many of the other governmental processes in liberal democracies) are built around peacetime opportunity costs. They prioritize safety over rushing to get a vaccine out the door. When the opportunity cost changes (i.e., there is a new global pandemic and lives are on the line) those institutions have trouble updating their behavior accordingly. Conversely, authoritarian regimes are much more militant. You see this in China's approach not only to the virus, but in audacious economic initiatives (e.g. Belt & Road) and the defense of its political ideology on the world stage. That mindset is actually similar to the democracies that have responded best to COVID. Israel (very much a "wartime" country - mandatory military service, surrounded by its enemies, etc.) is blowing the rest of the world out of the water in its vaccination implementation. In normal times, it is a powerhouse of innovation, largely due to elite technological groups in the military. South Korea (another country with mandatory military service, enemy with nukes to the north) had a great COVID response. And Taiwan, a country that faces constant existential threat from China, > [E]xhibited the exact same sort can-do attitude alongside a free press, elections, and pig intestines in the legislature. The US last had a "wartime" mindset during WW2. Many of the innovations in the following period (nuclear physics, space race, computers, etc.) can be directly attributed to the massive mobilization effort and public-private partnerships of the time. So the question to ask is: How do we cultivate the wartime mindset that leads to innovation? And if COVID can't catalyze this, what can?